Any of you guys find it interesting this week when T.C. alluded to the fact that the average fitness mag “cover guy” knows very little about training and nutrition and even less about helping the “average guy” get into shape?
I guess that it shouldn’t be a surprise.There’s an old adage in sports: “the superstar athelete does not necesarily make even an average coach”.
Still some interesting thoughts when I read them , though! Your thoughts?
Most models, whether it be fitness or fashion or on a “need to know” basis. In other words, they aren’t needed to know anything - they are hired for gigs solely on how they look. And I suspect most fitness models are trained by someone else and feel that if that someone has the knowledge to help them keep getting the cover jobs, then why should they, themselves, know anything as long as the money keeps coming?
John Berardi has modeled for CK!
When I was rowing, some of the national team rowers would coach some crews at my club (we trained out of the same facility). I think that was used to draw members to the club. When I went to do a coaching certification thing (NCCP level 1 if you know what that means) a few of them were in the same class as me & I was sort of surprised how badly they were getting shot down my the instructor, who was a master coach (that’s what they’re called for some reason).
Well since most of the cover guys look like they are in better shape than he is, I wonder what he bases that off of. Did he do a survey on the fitness mag coverguys? How many of us are that atheletic looking?
It was based on 1)Their submissions to their editors of articles on training and nutrition and 2)simply talking with the guys.
Moo. I think the point is being missed. There is no question about their shape and appearance. But looks can have very little bearing on either knowledge or what they can teach another person about getting into shape. Hey…if I want to learn about Coaching college basketball, your best source is gonna be Coach K, not Michael Jordan or Alan Iverson…
Actually, I answered Reader Mail this week and last.
JMB has modelled for CK??? How do you know that?
Ooops…sorry Chris…
Did I get the point you were trying to make correct?
where was this article exactly? i couldnt find it in this week’s atomic dog.
Well, I know I’m probably going to be the only one saying this, and I don’t know if this will get past the moderator, but here it goes anyways: a lot of us (myself included) need to get off this mentality that these fitness models know nothing about training and nutrition. I happen to know people who are aspiring fitness models and believe me, they know their stuff. You’d be surprised how many of these “pretty boys” deadlift, squat, bench press, clean, and row. Now I’m not saying that they’re all like this. Yes, they are blessed with good genetics, bone structure, and attractive looks, but come on, they are NOT any different from us T-Men when it comes to diet and training. Quite simply, I think we have all fallen into a place where we try to make ourselves feel better by putting down others. I know because I was once at this mental state where I thought I was “hardcore” and that the “pretty boys” could stick to their suboptimal training and bad diets. However, I must say that I was wrong. Case in point, my training partner, Rob, is trying to get into Men’s Health and he follows Westside training methods. His diet is cycled into phases of bulking up and dieting down and he is meticulous about his food and supplementation. And Mufasa, yes, you would learn a lot about basketball from Coach K, but I think you could also learn a lot from Michael Jordan or Larry Bird. Genetics predetermine a lot of things in terms of athletic gifts or physical attributes, but when it gets down to it, hard work is there as well. Take Cy Willson or John Berardi for example. I don’t think anyone would argue that these guys have great genetics, but hard work and knowledge of training and nutrition are the basis that take their physiques to the level where we strive to be.
All too often, it is the case that the superstar does not make a good coach. Part of the reason is that it comes naturally to them. I’m not trying to downplay anyone’s hard work or practice, but the best coaches are often the ones that had to study the game intensely and then make the appropriate changes to their training. Many people are blessed with bodies that we may never attain and they don’t have to do a thing to maintain them. Are these the kind of people we should get training advice from? NO! It’s the former fatties and skinny guys that had to study and learn how to do things right. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but I think you’ve got it right with your original post.
(Hey Chris; jump in ANYTIME, Bro!:)—!!!
Okay…John…again, you’ve supported my point in many ways. These guys WORK HARD! (Saw one on a “48 Hours” episode once). No question about that…but you said it yourself:
“Yes, they are blessed with good genetics, bone structure, and attractive looks…”
A lot of that hardwork is a lot of “maintenance” of what is already a body conducive to modeling and “the look”. Also…I think the point is that “the look alone” does not make them de facto trainers or people who can NECCESSARILY help the Fat and Skinny Hardgainers who are continually fighting genetics INSTEAD OF “exploiting” them.
You BET Alan Iverson can show me a post-up move or two. But I doubt he could take a bunch of good (but not neccessarily gifted and naturally talented) ballplayers and mold them into Champions. A Coach K can…
So…anyway…I really don’t think that we are disaggreeing a lot here…and if so…it’s only in perspective…(p.s. Some guy on the cover of “Men’s Health” has no bearing on my ego and he certainly doesn’t pay my Bills…)
Well, I thought maybe I’d chime (chyme?) in on this one, seeing as how I am a model myself. I can tell you from the many conversations I’ve had with other models (be it fitness or fashion, I do both) that very few of them know what they are talking about or doing, but they seem to be able to get by with very little working knowledge. It puts me in an awkward place because as soon as they find out how much I know, I can’t escape a conversation littered with questions. So I started charging for the advice. The thing with me is, I am fully aware that I am a much better practioner of the knowledge then I am a teacher of it. I have good genetics, I respond to anything relatively quickly, and I am always accountable for my own work ethic. I lift smart (although I’m not really much into training theory) and people look up to me for my knowledge and work ethic. I can tell you however that many people make the mistake of associating the way I look with how much I know. In my case I happen to be faily knowledgable, but in most cases I’ve found this to not be true.
I delved into this topic in my article here: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION
Sure, there are plenty of people with the “look” and the knowledge, but most seem to go the other way. Example: My current training partner has great forearms. When we first started training together I asked him what he did for them. Answer: nothing. He’d always had big forearms and calves and never trained them directly. Now that he trains them, they’re even better of course. Some people are the same when it come to keeping a low body fat percentage and having great abs. These guys give horrible diet advice because they’ve never had to diet.
On a related note, I find it funny that some people want to look like a “cover model, not a steroid user.” Yet some of those cover guys use too. I remember one old fitness mag that proudly proclaimed that they weren’t going to have any of those “roided out monkeys” in their mag. The fitness model on the cover had a raging case of gyno though. Odd, huh?
Also, remember Eric Neese from MTV’s “The Grind”. Great abs, caused a sensation, made the women squeal, etc. I think he even made some training videos during his 15 minutes of fame. Around that time, people were always saying, “Now that’s how I want to look, not like a roided up bodybuilder!” They don’t remember that Neese was on parole for getting busted with roids back when he was on the first season of the Real World (back when that show was cool.)
So, it’s a complicated issue when you really look into it. But yes, I was told by an editor of a fitness mag that the cover models didn’t know very much about training and diet. Many pro BB’s don’t either obviously, but 1 in a million genetics combined with a lot of drugs make up for it.
sorry folks, this may be a bit off the topic, but BigK, do you feel that height plays a major role in you or other models getting jobs or not? Im looking to start a career in modeling, whether it be fitness or fashion, either way its all good. Anyway, I think my only potential weakness is my lack of height. Im 5’10. Do you think that will pose a problem for me. For instance, Frank Sepe works out at my gym, and hes gotta be like 6’4 or something. Not that hes setting the standard or anything, Im just curious. Thanks bro.
He’s my pool boy.
Drax you are amusing, how does your response even relate the question posted? Crack will definetly hinder your training program, cut back to one hit an hour or something.
There’s an old adage in sports: “the superstar athelete does not necesarily make even an average coach”. right? People think olympic athletes would make good coaches so they flock to the club thinking that the the coaching will be so good, sorry if that doesn’t relate to a thing about people who someone would expect to know their shit & really don’t. Thanks for being my ‘internet monitor’. Thanks a lot! 
Actually, height doesn’t really much matter in fitness modelling, 5’10 is a good height. I get hit by the height thing a lot, but I am at the other end of the spectrum being 6’6. I’m too tall for fashion really, and now too muscular to fit into those clothes. Which is fine by me, cause I’d rather ‘look like a man’ then an anorexic euro-trash punk. Oh, and I’m pretty sure ‘Mr. Natural’ (hahahaha) Frank Sepe isn’t 6’4, but still pretty tall at 6’2 or some such. Being tall can be a hinderance, because you have muscles stretch out over a larger area, so visually they look smaller.